By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) -Stephen Bannon, a longtime adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been criminally charged for failing to adjust to a subpoena issued by a Home of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, the Justice Division mentioned on Friday.

Bannon has refused to adjust to subpoenas in search of paperwork and his testimony, citing Trump’s insistence – already rejected by one decide – that his communications are protected by the authorized doctrine of govt privilege.

Bannon, 67, was charged with one depend of contempt of Congress involving his refusal to look for a deposition and one other involving his refusal to provide paperwork, the Justice Division mentioned.

“Since my first day in workplace, I’ve promised Justice Division workers that collectively we’d present the American folks by phrase and deed that the division adheres to the rule of regulation, follows the details and the regulation and pursues equal justice beneath the regulation,” Lawyer Common Merrick Garland mentioned in an announcement. “In the present day’s fees mirror the division’s steadfast dedication to those ideas.”